... I'd get very very p*ssed with remarks about Johor made by Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng in Singapore recently.
Really p*ssed.
At least, it is believed that Guan Eng uttered those offensive remarks about Johor.
Bernama sent out a report on this.
In response, Guan Eng demanded an apology from Bernama, or he will sue the news agency. This seems to suggest that Bernama sent out a false report.
As it turned out, the only false thing (in the report) was the place where he was said to have uttered the remarks.
Bernama had quoted Guan Eng, as saying in an interview with an Australian radio station, that Johor was not a safe state where the chances of being kidnapped were high.
Well, maybe Guan Eng never gave that interview. But, according to new kid on the blog -BigCat - who did some digging, the chief minister did make remarks about Johor when addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore at a luncheon in the republic.
(It is a fact that Guan Eng was at the luncheon and he did speak at the function).
BigCat, it seems, got the whole story. In his posting, "This Is Another Crook", the blogger quoted Guan Eng.
""Iskandar is seen as a very strong competitor ... but if you look in terms of safety and using the Crime Index, Penang was Number 1 in terms of cutting crimes, so you don't have to worry about your safety when you come to Penang.
In Johor, if you are a Singaporean, you are likely to get kidnapped ... you ask any Singaporean they would know but you don't have that problem when you come to Penang.
I am sure investors want to deal with an honest government and not to deal with crooks.
Lynas the rare earth factory in Pahang ... they don't see this huge premium facility benefiting the people as they pose a serious threat to their health and of course safety."
Ouch!
Yesterday, TV3 during its prime time news Buletin Utama, played an audio recording of someone who sounded unmistakably like Guan Eng, purportedly at that venue and event.
Okay, if it was Guan Eng who uttered those words, then I can only say that he must feel that as the DAP secretary-general, attacking Johor, Pahang etc, is fair game. Never mind if he is a MALAYSIAN chief minister.
You have the chance to whack your enemies, you whack kow-kow!
That's the way the cookie crumbles.
The NST carried a report as well. But did not try to contact him as the MOLE did.
Guan Eng, you see, has been boycotting the NST over a commentary the NST's Penang correspondent, Sharanjit Singh, wrote in the "100 days in office" series.
Guan Eng took offence to Sharanjit's remarks that the DAP in Penang was playing favourites with certain companies. This was written not without basis.
Following that, he has banned the newspaper from covering official or private functions (in which he is guest), and I believe has given instructions to private companies and so on, to not invite the NST , if they want him to grace their event.
I say that is not the way a leader should act. Frankly, I was utterly surprised by his action.
I expected him to be bigger than this. I thought he was, er....different...champion of free press etc....
But, oh well, to each his own. This is a free country.....
And Guan Eng (it it was him in that audio recording and if BigCat's posting is true), it seems, has taken the liberty to call some people "crooks"...
So, as I said...if I were the Johor MB....
Too many "ifs" in your posting ! Sound bias to me.Some bloggers are not to be trusted.Quoting them doesn't seem right.I guess to each his/her own.....er..inclination lah !
ReplyDeleteNuraina,
ReplyDeleteThe Braggart LGE get caught by a red herring (the Bernama report).
There is a difference when you say negative things about your country to foreigners abroad and saying the same to your local audience. Smart executives should know what to speak and what not to. But it is acknowledged that a braggart will always shoot his mouth without using his brain.
If the braggart could go all out of his way to seek apology from Bernama for its minimal error, LGE must have the decency to apologise to the Johoreans without being asked to.
AkuMelayu.
Lee,
ReplyDeleteactually I'm being nice.
the fact is Guan Eng was in Singapore at the Foreign Journalists' luncheon. And he did speak to them.
That's not hearsay.
I was not at the function. But that does not mean that I cannot believe news or reports that he was there.
True. Some blogs are not to be trusted.Absolutely. i agree.
It's not that I trust BigCat, or I don't. He got it right because Guan Eng's presence at that event was reported in the Press including the foreign Press.
Also, I don't know why the "if"s have made me sound bias.
AkuMelayu,
ReplyDeleteI think Guan Eng couldn't resist the opportunity, provided by the platform, to attack a BN government.
Frankly, i don't think he cares about the effect of what he said on the country.
On Bernama: I think Bernama should apologize because they got it wrong. But they should also run the correct version of the story.
Regardless of whether LGE had uttered those words, the fact remains that JB is not a safe place. Those living in JB would know, I do, as I lived there for 3 years.
ReplyDeleteTell me, if JB is safe, why does the royalty even have their own police force? You tell me lah.
come on la Lee, just because he's chinese you don't want to believe malay bloggers...typical chinese
ReplyDeleteLee,
ReplyDeleteYou think you can trust chinese newspaper? come on lah...
Guang Eng is big headed, bloody dictator and bloody moron..same goes with the father..
ReplyDelete-penangite-
Dear Datuk Nuraina,
ReplyDeleteIt is an honour to know that u read my blog. Well, as for being the Johor MB, I think what Ghani Othman is doing right now is great. He did not jump up and down like a clown. Of course he is pissed but knowing him, I know he is as cool as a cucumber. Ghani is one of those rare Umno leaders who are not glamor-hungry. I trust this dude to do and act accordingly.
I think Lee's comments itself sound bias. Can't say much about what he says...coz it doesn't make any sense at all.
ReplyDeleteHello , i live in JB and othig wrong with what LGE says.
ReplyDeleteMemang Guan Eng ni selalu suka cakap ikut sedap mulut dia saja, lebih kurang macam perangai kawan baik dia, Mat Sabu, kemudian dia akan pusing dan putarbelit cakap dan tak mengaku pula. Memang itu perangai seorang yang angkuh dan suka perlekeh orang lain untuk menaikkan diri sendiri. Inilah masalahnya kalau bercakap ikut kepala lutut.
ReplyDeleteQuestion is why not go after the really bad ass bastards who buy property on the cheap etc....but no...you umno people are all the same....wasted space
ReplyDeletejohor is Trash! so what? move on! Rosmah does more harm in a single minute that LGE does in 5 months
ReplyDeleteYuki: you said: "Tell me, if JB is safe, why does the royalty even have their own police force? You tell me lah."
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you. First - i'm not surprised you don't know anything about the Johor Military Force or as you carelessly say, the royalty's own police force. That is typical of ignoramuses.
'Johor is the first and only state to have its own army. The common perception is that the
JMF is the Johor sultan’s private army. It may be so, but during the war, it also served to protect the state.
The JMF was established at the time when the British successfully convinced the then Sultan of Johor, Sultan Sir Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar, to accept a British adviser in the state. The British had to concede to the wishes of the ruler for the state to have its own army.
I read that the JMF, which was under the state government’s payroll then, and still is now, was initially set up with a total of 60 Malay and 20 Punjabi soldiers. The Malays were trained as infantry soldiers while the Punjabis were artillery soldiers.
Its first commandant was an English officer by the name of Captain Newland, while the first Malay to be commissioned as an officer was Captain Daud Sulaiman.
The JMF was accorded royal colours on May 11, 1916." (from Fauzaiah Ismail's Johor Buzz)
THE LEAST YOU COULD DO, *UKI IS READ UP FIRST.
BigCat" The pleasure is mine.
ReplyDeleteKeep blogging, bro/sis.
I think you're a guy. Yr writing is like a guy's.
Yuki, you are not only being naive, but also being stupid. If you want to make comparison like that, then Kuala Lumpur also is not safe, where you may suddenly get acid splash, while driving in your car. I personally was kidnapped and robbed at The Curve. A woman doctor was murdered in her guarded apartment in Perak.There are no country in the world without its own army and police. So everywhere in the world is not actually safe if it is your argument. Do you leave your house unlocked if you stay in Penang? Maybe all the Police forces and offices in Penang can now be closed. Afterall, if by your argument, you don't need them
ReplyDeleteJust because you support LGE, you cannot simply support him condemning other states in the country. I am a Johorean staying in Selangor, and I felt offended by LGE remark. I feel Selangor also is not Safe.
Ayob
LGE is just trying to do a Lee Kuan Yew...his idol.
ReplyDeleteIf you can remember in 1998 LKY bad-mouthed JB in his court case(affidavit) against an opposition party member saying that JB is a place of car-jackers and criminals.
But of course he retracted it later and offered an unconditional apology to Malaysia after a huge noisy and rowdy UMNO Youths led by Hishamudin in JB with so many "sepandoks" & "kain rentangs" calling LGE's idol names..."orang tua nyanyuk","LKY biadap" etc.....that was the day when the chinese in Singaporean jaws dropped. They never thought the "god" was actually flesh and blood after all.
Fast forward 2011 UMNO Youth has lost its balls.
What is wrong for stating the obvious? YOu must understand the crowd he was addressing to. What LGE was trying to say is that whenever you bring/do projects in Johor, they BN goons will 'kidnap' and park your ideas/projects under them, otherwise you'll not get any approval or permits. It has nothing to do with being a chinese or malays or indians.
ReplyDeleteBN goons are the 'crooks' he was referring to. i.e. umno, mic, mca and gerakan will 'sapu' big time whatever you bring to the table. I am sure LGE said those words, without doubt.
SO there are some truths to what he said, why invest in a state where the government is corrupt and dumb 'leaders' put self interest ahead of the public.
As for taking over johor in the next election, i doubt it. You know what they say "you can put a monkey as a candidate in Johor, and the monkey will win as long as it is from BN"
BTW the food in JB is good tho!
I agree that BN will retain Johor in GE13, btw, if someone says 'you can put a monkey in Johor the monkey will still win if it is from BN, i think the same thing can be said likewise, 'you can put a monkey in Bukit Bintang or Tanjong, the monkey will still win if it is from DAP'.
ReplyDeleteSo the point is,it is not nice to start 'monkey'ing people.